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History

1889

found on a hunting trip by the white trapper Leander Dillman. In the following years he used the cave to cool his venison.

1926

area donated to the State of Oregon for a park by the Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company.

1981

Lava Rivers Cave site acquired by the Forest Service through an exchange of land with the State of Oregon.

NOV-1990

Newberry National Volcanic Monument created.

Description

Lava River Cave is a typical lava tube, a tall tube of nearly constant
diameter.
The floor shows interesting flow features.
The lavacicles on the walls were formed, when the lava was still molten.
The cave crosses beneath U.S. Hwy. 97, where the roof of the cave is 15m thick.
This is typical for lava tubes, as the roof is formed by the cooled surface of
the lava flow, it always has about this size.

The place where the lava came from, the vent, is about 550m uphill from
the cave entrance.
It looks like a low, rocky pile now largely buried by soil.
The liquid lava flowed downhill for some time, the surface slowly cooling, thus
forming the cave.
When the production of lava stopped, the last lava flew out of the tube and the
cave existed.
Later the roof collapsed at one point, and so the cave was cut into two
branches, the upper and the lower branch.
Only the lower branch is open to the public.

The cave is entered down the collapse and through a rather unapparent hole.
The visitor enters a large cool chamber where stalactites and stalagmites of
ice, formed during winter whwn the cold air flew down into the cave, persist
until the warmer days of June.
The first white discoverer, the trapper Leander
Dillman, used this place as a natural refrigerator and stored his venison
here.

Now the main passage follows, with a post marking the overhead passage of
Highway 97.
Rather huge, this tunnel is easy to walk and shows remains of the lava flow all
over.
Often the walls are covered with a shiny and glazed form of lava resembling
slumped gray toffee.
It was formed by remelting, when most of the molten lava had drained out and hot
gases were trapped in the interior of the tube.
Other common speleothems are volcanic stalactites called lavacicles.
Similar to limestone stalactites there are two forms, hollow cylindrically
shaped soda straws, and the cone shaped drip pendants.
The soda straws were formed by escaping gases, the conic lavacicles by remelted
lava dripping from ceilings and walls.
So despite the similar form, the processes which formed them are different from
their limestone siblings.

A special thing with this cave are the self guided tours.
The cave is not a show cave, there are no developed paths and no light.
There are 126 steps into the cave and inside a sort of rough trail with some
uneven floor.
But there are no restrictions by the National Forest, and the cave was even
visited by 90 years old.

Stop at the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center, which is located at the turn-off
from U.S. Route 97 to Lava River Cave.
The Visitor Center has been completely renovated in 2008 and was reopened in
April 2009.
Here you will get information about the cave and may rent a lantern.
Additional light, warm clothes and good shoes are also a good idea.
However, there are restrictions on the type of own lamps you are allowed to take
in.
Open fire like torches or candles are not allowed, electric lamps, especially
LED lamps are a good idea.

In and around Lava River Cave SP, several other caves, like Boyd Skeleton
Cave, Arnold Lavatube System, Surveyors Cave, Wind
Cave, Charcoal Cave, South Ice Cave, and Lavacicle
Cave, can be visited.
A detailed map is necessary.
Ask at the Visitor Center about visitation guidelines and check the road
conditions.
The rough winter weather restricts visits to the summer months.

Unfortunately the cave has increasingly become the target of vandals.
Using spray cans they leave their names, dates, and drawings like marijuana
leaves or mushrooms.
The cave is now cleaned several times each summer by forest employees using wire
brushes and chemical cleaners.